The Standard’s
Best Photos of 2022

Twenty-twenty-two was a complex year for San Francisco. On the one hand, the city began to reopen, with workers returning to offices, restaurants inviting diners indoors, parks welcoming crowds of all sizes and formerly canceled events taking place to great fanfare. And yet, San Francisco struggled: Workers returned to offices—but not at rates seen in other cities. Many restaurants shuttered, crippled by debt, inflation and untenable fees. Concerns about crime, housing, homelessness and the growing drug crisis reached a boiling point.

Amid it all, we took photos.

It can give anyone whiplash to take pictures in Salesforce Tower in the morning, only to document the tragedies unfolding in San Francisco’s alleys in the afternoon. In the process of pursuing thousands of stories, and taking hundreds of thousands of photos, our photojournalists were catcalled, threatened, harassed and chased. It’s not an easy job. Still, when the light hits just right, we are rewarded: We believe a simple connection or sly smile captured on film can transform an entire story. That’s what we aim for, and why we’re proud to share this mix of photographs with our readers.

—RJ Mickelson, Camille Cohen and Sophie Bearman

We started 2022 with a slew of protests, large and small.

From her AP World History classroom, its sole window propped open to ventilate the room, 17-year-old Rhea Iyer led a movement to improve Covid safety at SF schools. At City Hall, Maggy Fungula rode a mini car down Polk St. with the following message emblazoned on it: “I am Black and I matter.” Hundreds gathered on a bright Sunday morning to commemorate Vicha Ratanapakdee, the Thai American grandfather who was violently shoved to death on San Francisco’s streets, and in an SRO in Chinatown, a family fought back against the pangs of hunger caused by food insecurity. Plus, we photographed the promise of construction in the city.

February was eclectic, with a mix of new parks opening, the dramatic recall of San Francisco’s three embattled school board members and a lively Chinese New Year Parade. We also visited a newly reopened cannabis consumption lounge in the Mission District.

In March, we explored the growing debate around conservatorship, or forced treatment. In her annual State of the City address, Mayor London Breed spoke at an active construction site, underscoring her assertion that San Francisco is a city on the rise—not decline. Plus, we profiled the Magic Theater and visited San Francisco's only urban vineyard.

April rolled in with the long-anticipated debut of the Van Ness Bus Rapid Transit project. We also spent the month exploring art around the city, from the work burgeoning in repurposed garages to murals created during the heart of the pandemic.

May was both somber and celebratory. We documented the clearing, or sweeps, of encampments and how one SF school commemorated the victims of the Uvalde, Texas, massacre. Yet the Warriors had us cheering throughout the month, as did the colorful Carnaval Parade that swept through the Mission.

What didn't happen in June? Of course, no one can forget the dramatic recall of former District Attorney Chesa Boudin or, nationally, the shocking reversal of Roe v. Wade. The Warriors won the NBA Finals, the SF Pride Parade was a forceful call to action and we covered a rally against gun violence. We also spoke to Cindy Stubbs, an unhoused woman who had recently suffered an attack by another homeless individual, about her life and safety on SF's streets.

In July, we explored entertainment for kids—the new Tunnel Tops Park opened in the Presidio—and San Francisco’s surprising underground entertainment scene for adults. We examined the city's relationship with its new district attorney, Brooke Jenkins, and haunted the steps of City Hall with the mission of giving our readers a front-row seat to the political theater that makes our city a hot dinner table topic. In the process, we witnessed more than a few weddings. Plus, we captured the Buck Moon in all its glory.

In August we visited the construction site of a soon-to-be restaurant, spoke to Gen Z residents about what they love—and hate—about San Francisco, celebrated back-to-school with SF's students and looked into a fish-killing algal bloom plaguing the bay. We also went to Outside Lands, of course.

September was eclectic—we covered the deluge of political campaigning leading up to November's election and profiled a poetry-writing Muni driver. We also visited an Oakland shop where neon signs are restored.

In October, we attended a rally for Iranian freedom and wrote about a sculpture of Edwin M. Lee, one of the few of San Francisco's 98 public statues to feature an Asian American. We covered SF's high school football teams, reviewed a "sensuous showcase" at the Palace Theatre and met up with Honey Mahogany, a trans supervisor candidate for District 6.

November brought the last of four elections, plus nonstop news about Elon Musk's Twitter takeover. We also met with Mayor London Breed for an exclusive profile—set to publish in 2023—and attended a Dia de Los Muertos festival.

The end of the year ushered in rain—lots of rain. That was good news for SF's museums, many of which offered free admission one weekend to attract visitors. We wrote about living conditions for the unhoused—and housed—in SF's Tenderloin neighborhood and traveled to Sacramento to speak with a Black trans merperson.